iPad Mini Cases Show iPod Touch-Inspired Design

While we might have to wait until October for the iPad Mini, we’re still seeing a few more cases for the rumored device show up online.

According to MacRumors, the latest leaked cases show off the latest rumored design for the 7.85-inch iOS tablet. The cases show a tablet with a thin bezel on the “left” and “right” of the screen (assuming the tablet is in portrait mode), and a thicker bezel on the “top” and “bottom” around the home button and FaceTime camera.

The new cases also show the same design we saw in our engineering samples last month. They show the smaller dock connector on the bottom of the device flanked by two speaker grilles instead of the one grille in the current iPad. The cases also show a rear-facing camera with no flash to speak of, just like the iPad and iPod touch.

We’ll likely have to wait until October to see the official announcement of the iPad Mini, but evidence certainly suggests that it is coming soon. The tablet will likely cost somewhere between the iPod touch which starts at $180 and the iPad which starts at $499. A price of around $249 or $299 for the base model seems likely.

Unfortunately we don’t know much about the iPad Mini, aside from the size, design, and the rumored 4G LTE. Information about the device’s processor, specific details about a camera – if there is one, and specifics about the device’s storage space options remain unclear.

We do expect the device, at the very least, to be running Apple’s iOS 6 operating system which will be released this fall.